Private student loans tougher to find

DALLAS - It's crunch time for families seeking college financial aid as bills for the fall semester's tuition and room and board come due. But the ongoing credit crunch has caused some lenders to stop making student loans and to raise lending standards - forcing many students and their families to seek alternative sources of financing. Key among those: federally guaranteed student loans, special programs offered at schools and peer-to-peer lending on the Internet. "It's definitely gotten a bit worse," said college financing expert Mark Kantrowitz, who runs